Common hawk-cuckoo (Subadult): Hierococcyx varius

 

Plate 1: Common hawk-cuckoo (Subadult(: Hierococcyx varius



Plate 2: Common hawk-cuckoo (Subadult): Hierococcyx varius

Plate 3: Chevron marking of a Subadult
Common hawk-cuckoo: Hierococcyx varius

Common hawk-cuckoo: Hierococcyx varius

Gender: Both look alike.

Age: Subadult

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Sighted at: Keoladeo Ghaṅā, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

Date: 6.6.2015

Also known as Brainfever bird, this bird’s call is heard in and around Delhi in the summers and just prior to the monsoons. It has a three-note call that rises in a rapid crescendo to stop abruptly in a pause before repeating incessantly all over again. There is one such cuckoo in the tree outside Sharang’s room in Pune, and he vouches for the fact that this bird knows no sleep or rest other than the pause after a crescendo’s high. It goes on and on. I’ve heard that bird via Skype at different times of the day and night as well!

The fact that the member above is a subadult is deduced by it being slimmer, chevron marking on its belly and underparts (Plates 2 and 3), and pronounced rufous markings on tail and tail-tip. Underwing coverts are rufous and only faintly barred.

The yellow eye-ring is typical. Whitish-grey chin and throat, and uniform grey upperparts are features. Adults have indistinct barring instead of chevron making of Subadult on belly and underparts.

In all other aspects this cuckoo is a visual mimic of Shikra – a raptor. It is a brood parasite and lays its eggs in nests of Babblers.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom	-	Animalia
Phylum	-	Chordata
Class	-	Aves
Order	-	Cucliformes
Family	-	Cuclidae
Genus	-	Hierococcyx
Species	-	varius

 

Along with the Koel, the Brainfever bird is the bard of Indian summers before the monsoons roll in.

Photographed at Keoladeo Ghaṅā, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India, on 6^th June, 2015, using a Nikon D7200 camera and Tamron 150-600 mm lens.

 

-          Prashant V Tenjarla